Retro Video Game Finds XIII: I Found the Japanese Version of NBA Jam

by Salvatore Pane

During a trip back to the east coast, I had the opportunity to pick up some import games, chief among them NBA Jam for the Super Famicom. Jam is one of my all-time favorite games on any system, and I was quite eager to see if there were any differences between the English and Japanese versions. Sadly, there are not, except for the Japanese text in between the first and second quarters and the third and fourth quarters. I also picked up two Famicom games–one, a train-themed board game, and two, a horse racing simulator. If you’re curious about how I’m playing these, it’s fairly simple. If you want to play Super Famicom games on your Super NES, just get wire cutters and break off the two tabs inside the unit right above the cartridge slot. For the Famicom, I’m using a Power Joy, but there are a bunch of ways to play Famicom games in the US. This guide details how to import for a bunch of systems.